Our regular Quadram Institute blog covers topics ranging from the history of Listeria research in Norwich to our nutrition experts’ tips for healthy snacks.

Overall, we’ve published over 30 blogs this year from our staff and students talking about their roles, research and careers. Plus we’ve heard from members of the public who have taken part in our MOTION study investigating the role gut microbes may play in healthy ageing and the risk of developing dementia.

So, here are our top five blogs published in 2024, by webpage views.

How to get enough iron and vitamin B12 as a vegetarian and vegan

Plant-based diets are increasingly popular and are a focus of our research here at the Quadram Institute. In our most popular blog of the year, our nutrition experts and researchers share their expert tips on how to increase two key nutrients that are often lacking in a plant-based diet – iron and vitamin B12.

Along with diversifying iron-rich plant sources and highlighting supplements and fortified foods, the blog highlights our ongoing HARVEST study.

The HARVEST study is looking at helping vegans and vegetarians who have regular periods enhance their daily intake of iron and vitamin B12. Participants in the HARVEST study receive a free hydroponic kitchen garden for growing leafy greens biofortified with vitamin B12, accompanied by a unique app delivering iron-focused recipes.

We are still looking for people to take part in the HARVEST study.

From fermented foods to probiotics; meet Lactic Acid Bacteria

Our second most popular blog of the year explains the biology and probiotic potential of Lactic Acid Bacteria. These bacteria are found in foods including kefir, kombucha and cheeses as well as in our own gut microbiome.

Written by our PhD student Stephanie Ong, the blog includes her research exploring how Lactic Acid Bacteria produce antimicrobials and how they could be used in the long-term management of gut related disorders such as inflammatory bowel syndrome and ulcerative colitis.

Psuedomonas on food; what is it and does it matter?

Continuing the microbiology theme, another of our top blogs this year focuses on bacteria called Psuedomonas.

Pseudomonas bacteria are involved in food spoilage, plant disease and opportunistic infections in humans. Previously there hasn’t been much research understanding if Pusedomonas on food is a risk to health.

Our researcher Dr Samuel Bloomfield explains his research in Professor Alison Mather group studying Pseudomonas on food which has found that most of the Pseudomonas bacteria on food do not cause infections in humans.

The potential of peas; a PhD in plant-based nutrition

A key area of our research is understanding the relationships between plant-based foods and human health.

PhD student Rispah Nyambura Ng’ang’a explains why peas are a plant-based powerhouse and her path to studying a PhD in plant-based nutrition in one of our most popular blogs of the year.

Her research focuses on improving the overall nutritional value of legumes to ensure that people can gain maximal benefits from pulses.

How much salt do we eat in the UK and how can we eat less of it

Ever wondered how much salt we eat?

Following on with the nutrition theme, the final of our top five blogs from 2024 comes from our Food and Nutrition National Bioscience Research Infrastructure team.

Dr Laura Bardon, our Food Policy Research Scientist from the team, explains how we are consuming too much salt in the UK, it’s impact on our health and some tips on how we can reduce our salt intake.

Our Food and Nutrition team collect, compile and share data about the nutrition of the food we eat in the UK. As well as providing the nutritional information for food labelling, these data underpin research into the links between diet and health at the Quadram Institute and across Europe and beyond.

Other 2024 blog highlights

Along with publishing a blog on our salt intake and the impact on our health, our Food and Nutrition team have published lots of other blogs about nutrition too. They covered how they are examining iron and zinc malnutrition in the UK, how to avoid unintentional nutritional consequences on the journey to net zero plus they’ve shared tips for healthy snacks.

Other blog highlights from the year include hearing from our new Quadram Institute Early Career Fellows. Our Early Career Fellowship scheme helps individuals to become future leaders within the fields of food, microbes and health research.

Dr Dipali Singh is mathematically modelling the prostate cancer microbiome in her fellowship, while Dr Dimitra Lamprinaki’s fellowship focuses on how immune cells communicate with the gut microbiome. Dr Rokas Juodeikis tells us about his fellowship exploring how the gut microbiome processes iron too.

Another independent fellow studying the gut microbiome, Dr Lizbeth Sayavedra told us about her BBSRC Fellowship investigating nitrogen fixation in the gut.

We heard from lots of our PhD students too about their research including William Baidoo’s food innovation project and Raphael Hans Lwesya’s research on bacteriophages . Plus we heard about what students have been up to outside the lab, including the current Quadram Student Forum community, Ho Yu’s industry placement at Isomerase and Maria Solsona Gaya’s placement in policy.

Talking of policy, we heard how a Norwich Research Park career put Dave Baker at the centre of Covid-19 sequencing, and the key role of our sequencing at the Quadram Institute informing public health policy during the pandemic.

International collaboration is key to our research. This year we’ve heard how our Bioinformatics team have been building bioinformatics collaborations across the globe, Dr Hannah Pye’s role in an international project testing the potential of bacteriophages to treat wastewater and how our researchers have been working with colleagues in Fiji to develop the country’s microbiology sequencing capability.

There are many other brilliant blogs we’ve published in 2024 from our staff and students. Thank you to everyone who has contributed.

Many of our blogs published in previous years continue to be very popular too including those answering curious questions such as why do peas cause gas?   What fungi live in the gut? And how is milk digested?

If you have an idea for a blog or a topic you’d like to learn more about get in touch with us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, Bluesky, Threads or Twitter.